Contemplating Reality
A Practitioner's Guide to the View in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism
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- $25.99
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- $25.99
Publisher Description
A clear, in-depth exploration of traditional Buddhist philosophy that unpacks difficult concepts through guided exercises that encourage experiential understanding
This book is for intermediate and advanced Buddhist practitioners who wish to deepen their understanding by joining practice with study of traditional ideas. It introduces the reader to contemplations that investigate a series of views of reality as they evolved in the Buddhist tradition. These views are explained in plain English, with contemporary metaphors and examples to bring out their meaning for modern Buddhists. Quotations from both historical and living meditation masters and scholars are presented as examples of key principles. Topics include
• Egolessness
• Appearances and reality
• Methods of investigation
• Enlightenment
• Tenets of different schools through the centuries
• The root of compassion
• The origin of thoughts
Guided exercises encourage the reader to trust in experiential understanding through deep contemplation of complex concepts. The book is structured as a guide for the reader’s journey.
For more information about this book, please visit www.contemplatingreality.org.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Buddhism emphasizes direct experience and devalues conceptual thinking, but that doesn't mean it is devoid of philosophical reasoning and inquiry. This book by Karr, a teacher and investment banker, is formidably philosophical. "We need to use thought to get beyond thought," he writes, in laying the groundwork for a step-by-step presentation of various schools of Buddhist analytical meditation. In that practice, Buddhists contemplate ultimate reality by asking themselves questions or by reflecting on short and profound teachings. Various schools have different emphases, and Karr patiently explains and singles out these varied analytic methods. He is a friendly teacher of difficult material: exercises offer ways of helping students reach conclusions; demanding chapters of philosophical explication are relieved by quirky "interludes" of poetry and comedy; and appendixes contain helpful biographies of historical Buddhist teachers and a chart of philosophical systems. Missing, however, is a glossary that could help with Sanskrit and Tibetan terms. Both practice and study are needed for Buddhist understanding, and this volume advances study for Western practitioners. It will challenge the advanced student of Buddhism interested in the historical and intellectual richness of this wisdom tradition.
